Rick Carlisle said the sloppiness his club has shown at times this season shouldn't be a trait of a veteran squad. The Mavericks have taken a combined 53 3-pointers in consecutive losses to Memphis and Atlanta. Dallas defenders are put in poor position if the shots aren't falling. "We want to maximize our offensive possessions and get the kind of shots that put us in position to get back defensively," Carlisle said. He called a loss to the Grizzlies and a recent setback to an undermanned Golden State team "windshield-wiper games." It wasn't much better Saturday against Atlanta.
"There's a fine line between aggression and discretion," Carlisle said. "We want to be discreet, but we've got to be aggressive."
The Mavs fired up 24 3-pointers against the Hawks, hitting just eight. Add in another 16 turnovers, and it's easy to see why Dallas isn't too pleased with its execution lately.
"We might be in a little bit of a funk right now," Shawn Marion said after the loss to Atlanta. "The ball wasn't going in for us, like there was a little bit of a lid on there for us. When you hold a team to 36 percent shooting, you are going to win, but that wasn't the case tonight. We didn't capitalize on anything."
HAWKS 80, MAVERICKS 75: Dallas finished off a miserable back-to-back with Saturday night's home loss to Atlanta, turning in another uneven effort. The Mavericks shot 37 percent and committed 16 turnovers.
Dirk Nowitzki had 32 points and nine rebounds, but he didn't get much help from his supporting cast. Jason Terry, making a surprise start, had 17 points, but he missed 11 of 16 shots. No other Maverick scored more than Shawn Marion's eight.
Joe Johnson scored 31 for Atlanta, which won despite shooting a paltry 36 percent. A big difference: The Hawks had just eight turnovers.
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